The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

xaldub said:
All perfectly valid points, but for me, I personally rate W3 much higher than the TES games. Bethesda may create marvellous open world environments, but they are severely lacking, in my opinion, when it comes to filling those worlds with diverse and engaging content. I found Morrowind to be the only TES game that bucked that trend ... perhaps because the game world felt so alien and otherworldly. The ambience that created carried the game, but ultimately the game fell flat on account of poor combat mechanics, a weak main story line, awkward character animations ( you'd think with all the money Bethesda has earned they could hire someone decent ) and unbalanced character progression.
Click to expand...

Indeed, TES games have flaws. I remember playing a Kajiit in Morrowind and just ran and jumped everywhere to develop whatever the attribute was that controls jump height and fall damage (athleticism?). Very early on I could jump really high - lol. I didnt have to worry about bad guys, I could just jump over them :p

I think the combat mechanics are OK in TES games, but they do appear to be fairly simple and it is easy very early on to become unstoppable (which is a massive flaw to me). In Skyrim, once I got Wuuthrad and found loads of double handed multiplier armour (+ additional training) I could kill just about anything in 2-3 hits. I could also take down most things with a bow very easily too as I had amazing stealth and undetected I was getting like 2-3x critical hit damage multipliers.

As a basic starting point, though, I like that you can do well playing multiple classes and disciplines in TES games depending on your play style or your ideas for a character build. Indeed it gives an added level of gameplay over W3 for me because of the levelling tree and combat elements like stealth, the various magic alignments (illusion, destruction, restoration etc), ranged weapons, even hand to hand is broken down into blunt, long blade, axe, short blade, block etc. It seems to offer more variety in that regard whereas W3 feels a little too restrictive. The majority of weapons are swords. Thats it. However it does seem to offer customisation in the character skill tree but it is dependent on mutagens, and all of the ones I have picked up so far are green (3 in total). I want a damn red one!! lol :p

I like the idea of glyphs and runes though but I think it sucks how the dismantle feature works :(

xaldub said:
I would agree that the musical scores in TES games have always been impressive, but as with most of these things it comes down to a matter of taste, and I very much appreciate the score in W3, too.
Click to expand...

I don't think the music is particularly bad in W3, but it seems all on one plane. TES has siniter music, happier frollicking through the meadows music, sad music etc etc. In W3 the music, I don't know, just sounds cheaper somewhow - not as well written or produced, not as inspiring and there does not seem as much of it so far?

xaldub said:
As for Geralt's voice acting - I love it ! His sardonic comments and gruff tones suit the character, and the world he lives in, so very well. Each to their own I guess ....:)
Click to expand...

I reckon a sardonic yorkshire man would have worked better :D "when I were a lad, all this were fields and me father used to make we work 24hrs a day in' mill!" But seriously in the vein of the character I think Clint Eastwood would have been a better voice ;) I am getting used to it, but it does feel so strained - like no person ever actually talks like that!

I played for around 3hrs last night and did two quests with/for Kiera. Hmmm MMMM she is fine!! :p Really got into it last night and struggled to drag myself away. First time so far that I feel I have actually been drawn in to the world. I went from low level 5 to mid level 7 in that time which I was pleased with and managed to kill a few tough cookies as well. Still no god damn red mutagen though! :p

I get the game a bit more now. I am getting more familiar with how it works and just going with the flow. Now the quest tree is opening up a bit and I have a few more choices plus ad-hoc stuff I feel a lot more at home.

In 3 hours I have gone from being utterly frustrated and ready to click uninstall to wanting MOAR jumpy rolly stabby action! :D

tl;dr

TES games are flawed but offer more versatile character progression and development and combat styles over W3 and I still feel the map design and environments are a bit more inspired.

TES music is still better imo, but that is not to say W3 music is terrabad.

[controversy] Geralt would be better off being voiced by a broad Yorkshire man or Clint Eastwood! [/controversy]

Was completely frustrated with W3 but after another 3hrs of play I am really feeling it a lot more and actually feel motivated to play it.
 
You're really early into the game mind you, this game is supposed to be long, and is quite a slow burner towards the beginning of the game.

Combat in TW3 is actually pretty good. Way better the TES imo. I hated Skyrim combat because no what what weapon you were using, all you did was spam-click and block every so often until something was dead. Magic was there, but is was so basic and alchemy/spells had been dumbed down a lot. At least in the Witcher to combat feels somewhat diverse and tactical. You can dodge and roll, light/heavy attack combos, cast signs before and inbetween swings, throw bombs and shoot arrows to weaken and stun enemies, buff your sword pre-battle with oils, craft dedoctions to give you a boost and an upper hand against certain opponents, stamina meter ensures that you are using your signs/evasive manoeuvres effectively, adrenaline meter encourages a risk vs reward play stye ensuring that your always trying to fight, but skilled enough not to get hit, drink potions during battle to enhance abilities, configure you skill tree correctly with mutants to ensure you get the most out of your abilities, specific armour sets give boosts to certain play styles, swords has unique stats (such as bleeding) - and can be enhanced further using runes (I remember having a sword with a super high bleeding chance % and it was so useful), horse combat is actually pretty decent (btw if you didn't know, hold down the attack button whilst on a horse to slow down time t go into this jousting-like mode, really fun for charging in and managing to slice up someone on the way :D, and a bunch of other stuff I've probably forgotten (I haven't played in quite a while so).

Also the skills tree at first doesn't seems that diverse, but it gets pretty cool in the later game. Basically (in really simple terms) you have the red one (combat), the blue one (signs), and the green one (alchemy). Each one does what it says in the tin, but half way down the tree it splits in half and you get to decide what sub-option of that tree you want to pursue, e.g. the combat tree allows you to be a quick striking almost cat-like witcher (there's actually an armour set for this also) who rolls around everywhere and does successive light attacks which have a higher crib chance, or you can be more of a log and just tanks the damage and does hard hitting heavy attacks,... like a bear (also and armour set for this, how convenient :D).

The sign tree splits in a way where you can either choose a defensive play-style (with turrets you can place o the ground, shields which surround you and heal you when you get hit while you still have he shield up, being able to influence two opponents to fight against each other (this is so funny to watch and actually a really effective combat method :D), shoot a stream of fire out of your hands from a distance, and more, or you can go the more offensive sign route where you apply a temporary shield so you can take hits without reducing your adrenaline meter, place traps, stun enemies, throw a quick wave of fire, etc.

And I personally don't know much about alchemy route, but I've heard it's really fun and unique, and a completely different kind of play style to the other two skill trees. Instead of buffing your weapons and skills, you just buff yourself straight up in a numerous amount of ways to tackle different options.

tl;dr for me is that TW3 combat is really diverse if you give some time and invest into it properly, more so than TES will ever be... :D (but I personally hate skyrim, the combat, story, and world are all just "meh" to me).

The way TW3 presents itself (world, story, etc.) is just so much more interesting and intriguing, really pulls you in once you get properly hooked. Loads of well thought out back story, well written and well voice actor characters (for the most part), the world is amazing for it's scale (won't spoil but one you get to mid-game is a better Skyrim the Skyrim actually is :D), and the music is so diverse; exhilarating while in combat, eerie and mysterious while exploring, almost frighting in places, etc.

...and the main thing for me from a story perspective is just how diverse it all is, this isn't some simple "aah the world is nigh someone must save us!", it has elements of that, but there's greatest personal wants, love interests, goals n' ambitions, there's love and laughter (a nice change of pace from slaying monsters), but also sorrow, dread, and fear, which are all pulled of extremely well.

Presentation and style are off the charts too, not to mention nice graphics to boot also.
 
Last edited:
TES games, as much as I enjoy them (90 hours in Oblivion, 50 in Morrowind, 170 in Skyrim) are vastly inferior to Witcher 3 in pretty much every way that counts, for me at least.
Their greatest flaw, for me, is their writing - the stories and quests are just bland and not very interesting. There are some cool exceptions, but..yeah. The logic and consistency also does not really exists, Bethesda does not concern itself with these things. They just throw everything they think is cool into a kitchen sink, logic be damned.

I mean, in Witcher 3 I am laughing my ass off at one moment
example - theater play, the drinking night
and tearing up at another
priscilla getting mutilated, burying the aborted child with Baron..

I never really feel any emotion when playing any TES game (or vast majority of games in general). The writing in games is generally pretty bad.

But Witcher 2/3 are utterly fantastic. Only ones who can equal CD Projekt is Obsidian and maybe Larian in the future.

Of course, I am writing all this from perspective of someone who also read all the Witcher books 3 times over the last 16 years. Being their fan adds a LOT of enjoyment, since the game is packed with references and nods and is pretty much perfect continuation of their storyline.
 
Yeah I have to say for me Morrowind was the pinnacle for Bethesda overall but the story/cut scenes in Wither 3 are so much better plus I like the fact a lot of the characters in W3 seem to have Brummie accents.
 
Apem said:
Anyone able to tell me how do you use the armors and xbow from the addon downloads please?
Click to expand...

You buy the armour from merchants around the game world.

The Temerian armour can be bought from the starting town in White Orchard, sold by the guy you save from the Griffon.

The Nilfgaard armour can be bought from the merchant opposite the armourer at Crow's Nest I think, where you first meet the Bloody Baron.

Best bet is to google to find image captures of the in-game map so you don't get lost :p

Also make sure it's actually downloaded in your client. I don't remember having to it for the armour sets, but in the game's main menu there is a Downloadable Content option where you can turn on/off DLC you've downloaded.

Also armour doesn't scale very well. It's either Level 7 or 9 gear or Level 29 depending at which level you buy it at.

They do look very good though :D
 
Best game I have played in years, I am level 20 and just hit Skellege on Death March level. I think White Orchard is a good starter area and the main 3 quests in Velan are amazing, I knew the game was going to be special after doing the Keira quests and the Swamp.

However I am finding it a little too easy now as I have so much food and potions that most fights become trivial. I would like to see as future add-ons / dlc:

A House to own: A place you could purchase or possibly win in a tough Gwent game. A place where you can hang monster trophies on walls , books in a library, armours on stands, general storage chests etc.

Harder Alchemy: I like the fact that when you brew a potion you get 3/4 doses. However its too easy to replenish, I prefer Witcher 1 and Witcher 2 style where you needed original ingredients to replenish. Same should happen for oils and bombs. My inventory is overloaded with ingredients, food and alcohol/powder are too plentiful.

More Monsters: most fights are pretty easy, a few bosses can be tough until you learn their weakness. I actually find boxing to be the hardest as you cant use signs or in some case potions. Would like to see larger packs of monsters attack you like the Nekker cave in Witcher 2 where you would get swarmed by 15/20 Nekkers or fighting 2 Golems at once. I feel damage done to enemy health on DM about right. Five them any more health and immersion may start being lost.

However I realise I am only 40/50% of way through so my opinion on this could change.

Gwent: I real enjoy this game, so much better than the awful Dice Poker in Witcher 1/2. Maybe some extra options for more cards than 10 in a game, more/less rounds and possible gamble more than 10 orens a game.

I feel the above could be added very easily and would make the game even more enjoyable, of course you could make them all as options if people did not like them.

Overall I would give this a 9 out of 10 so far. Would get another .5 if not for Roach path finding and a few bugs and crashes which I am sure will be sorted in the future.
 
Murray said:
Witchers don't have homes, the best they could do is put a trophy room in Kaer Morhen maybe.
Click to expand...

True, a house would not fit into lore side things but then also Cat potion would also be redundant if they followed lore 100%.

Maybe one floor at a certain bards place would suffice, with Trophies and armours/weopons on the walls?
 
Its crazy how many quests there is. You finish a ton of them but then seem to get a load more along the way. iv got to the point where im feeling like just doing the main story only. Iv been doing all the secondary quests contracts and treasure hunts up to now but I think iv got to the stage where im burned out on them and just want to do the main quest and skip the rest lol. Anyone else get like that? While lots and lots of content is good I think iv just got to the point where go to point A use witcher senses kill monster has lost the excitement it had at the start. Im Playing on death march too and its still not that much of a challenge now.
 
Yeah, I got to the point where I only did side quests that sounded interesting and main story.

Witcher contracts started getting way too boring.
 
The number of quests is immense, I counted over 100 completed in my quest log before I even got to Skellege, and I still had about 15 question marks to visit in Velan and Novi.

They could actually do with raising the level of some of the quests or splitting some quests into two such as "Following the thread"

The standard of secondary quests is very good though, not finding them too tedious but sailing to all the question marks without fast travel between the islands is boring.
 
Just booted this up today and the screen is red. Thought it was a problem with my Gpu, but all other games are fine. Even tried deleting user settings files, restarted and same issue. Playing on Windows 10(10134) and using the Nvidia driver for pre-release W10.
Anyone have any idea what is going on?
 
Idleman said:
Just booted this up today and the screen is red. Thought it was a problem with my Gpu, but all other games are fine. Even tried deleting user settings files, restarted and same issue. Playing on Windows 10(10134) and using the Nvidia driver for pre-release W10.
Anyone have any idea what is going on?
Click to expand...

Guess it might just be Windows 10 buggering files up.
Can't say I've ever heard of that issue.
 
Sussed it. It was the ROG Gamefirst 3, just uninstalled it and the game is back to normal. It is probably not compatible with Windows 10.
 
I completed the game recently and one thing I stood out to me was the amount of times Geralt mentions he does not like portals throughout the game. Easily double figures it felt to me like.

I thought the music was fine. There was one track in skelliga which sounded uncannily similar to a final fantasy track. Some of the notes played were blatantly copied note for note.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom